Singer and actor Kristin Chenoweth comes to Houston this weekend for an event billed as “A Conversation With Kristin Chenoweth.” Which seems intriguing. After all, the characters she plays on TV, on Broadway and in film are often loquacious. That said, Chenoweth is best known for letting loose her big voice, which took her from theater work in her hometown of Broken Arrow, Okla., to Broadway.

Turns out she plans to talk while in Houston, befitting an event created by an organization called Brilliant Lectures. But she says some of her lecture will be sung, naturally. Chenoweth talked about finding her way to Broadway from Oklahoma (and “Oklahoma!”) and her work with Steve Tyrell, the Houston native who produced her 2016 recording “The Art of Elegance” and her forthcoming album. Strangely they’re in Houston on the same night to perform, which likely won’t allow the two singers to appear in the others’ show.

Q: Were you aware you’re in Houston the same night as Steve Tyrell? It seems like almost but not-quite-perfect planning to be in the same city as your producer, yet unable to sing with each other.

A: I know, I know! We’re both so mad about that. Both of us are wondering how it happened that we could be there at the same time and not able to sing together. He produced my album “The Art of Elegance.” I’ll sing some songs from that album, a couple from every album, I guess. I always have to keep it a little different for myself or I’ll go mad. I’ll put in some “Hello, Dolly!” Maybe a song from my upcoming record that Steve is producing. A little bit of everything.

Kristin Chenoweth

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Cullen Performance Hall, University of Houston, 4800 University

Details: $70-$125; 832-842-3131, uh.edu

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Q: Oh, OK, see I was under the assumption this was a speaking engagement rather than a singing thing.

A: I’ll probably be dividing it up. I’ll be speaking and talking about how music has transformed my … I wouldn’t say bouts, but ups and downs and depressions with the business. But more about how it has changed my life. ... I’ll share some pretty big instances in my life where there were forks in the road. And how you react to them is very important. So I’ll sing, but singing won’t be the whole show. I’ll talk about how the industry looked then and now, and my faith will come into play because that’s a big component in my life. It’s not just music.

Q: Faith has become a point of debate for you with fans in the past.

A: Yes, it’s been a big problem at times for me. I’m from Oklahoma, in the Bible belt. I didn’t know when I moved to New York that things would be so different. So I learned what it felt like to feel different. But it was wonderful opening up my life to understand that. Now I still stand firm in my faith, but I’ve changed a little bit, too. You just have to be who you are and live an authentic life.

Q: Given the proximity of Broken Arrow, Okla., to Claremore, did you pretty much grow up with an awareness of Lynn Riggs and the book that became “Oklahoma!”?

A: Oh yeah, oh yeah. Not too far outside of Tulsa they had Discovery Land, and they did “Oklahoma!” all summer. Every year for my birthday that’s what I wanted to do. So we’d pack a lunch and go see it. I’m sure every year before my birthday my father was like, “Please don’t let it be ‘Oklahoma!’... Please don’t let it be ‘Oklahoma’!” But we did everything as a family. So every year it was “Oklahoma!” I lived for it and, oh, I loved it. And as a professional I got to play in it. I ended up Ado Annie.

Q: Broken Arrow also produced Ralph Blane, who wrote “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Was he an obscurity there? Or a hometown hero?

A: Oh I absolutely remember him from there. When I was working in “Oklahoma!” his family brought him to visit us and we got a picture. He was in a wheelchair, but I got down on one knee and said, “Mr. Blane, I can’t believe I’m meeting you. Thank you for all you’ve given us.” So I got to hold his hand and tell him that. And he told me, “Whatever you do, have fun doing it.” At the time I was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know … .”

Q: Talk about a guy whose songs have stuck around…

A: I think that’s why . . . I obviously love contemporary music, and there are so many young artists I admire, but it’s why I always go back to the classics. I can’t stop thinking about a lyric, who was the lyricist? The melody, what did it take for them to write that. Was the song written during the Depression or a war? We forget there was serious life going on when some of these songs were written. I was thinking about “A Bird in a Gilded Cage.” I think it’s from 1913, but back in its day, it was a No. 1 song. I sang it the other day in concert, and put my own spin on it. And everybody was asking me, “Is that new?”

Q: In addition to Tyrell, you worked with another Houston guy: Lee Pace in “Pushing Daisies.” Do you still hear from viewers about that one?

A: Yes, that show spoke to me. Every day I’d wake up and wonder, “How did it get to be me working on it?” We just finished “Trial and Error” (a comedy on NBC). Just one season, it hasn’t been picked up yet. It’s a pure comedy. I don’t know, maybe it’s all just a series of discussions with yourself about what you want to be remembered for: Doing things you’re proud of? Or sitting back and taking a check. And I’ll just never be that girl.

Andrew Dansby covers music and other entertainment, both local and national, for the Houston Chronicle, 29-95.com and chron.com. He previously assisted the editor for George R.R. Martin, author of "Game of Thrones" and later worked on three "major" motion pictures you've never seen. That short spell in the film business nudged him into writing, first as a freelancer and later with Rolling Stone. He came to the Chronicle in 2004 as an entertainment editor and has since moved to writing full time.